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You absolutely should own your own domain and use it to email somewhere besides Google. I use Fastmail but ProtonMail is great, tutanota, mailfence, etc. Gettin

You absolutely should own your own domain and use it to email somewhere besides Google. I use Fastmail but ProtonMail is great, tutanota, mailfence, etc. Getting locked out of your email is no joke you don’t want to be in that situation. I have a paid account with Fastmail and a free account with protonmail just in case something goes wrong with Fastmail I can transition my free protonmail account to paid and use it with very minimal downtime Edit: adding my fastmail referral link just in case https://ref.fm/u26310488 https://ref.fm/u26310488

bjt2n3904 5y ago
If you have a domain, that's just another liability for email security. Look at what NameCheap did. Imagine losing your domain for some reason -- even forgetting to renew. All your contacts need a new address now, and until then it's dropped emails. A custom domain is mostly a vanity measure. It does allow you to migrate to a new email service if your provider cancels your subscription, I suppose... But I'd rather only have one thing to worry about.
- sgc 5y ago
  The entire point of your own domain is to provide continuity. Of course it's one more thing to worry about, but it also one more layer of protection (an important one).
- merlinscholz 5y ago
  Password managers are just another liability. One more thing you could lose the password to. What if the service shuts down entirely?
- mrtranscendence 5y ago
  This has happened to me, briefly. I once forgot to renew and lost access to email. Luckily I was able to fix the issue quickly. I do kind of wish I had never gone down the route of using my own domain for email. I use gmail with it, and will now have to bear a recurring payment of $6 monthly (IIRC). I could move hosts but none of them are free to my knowledge, and a free service comes with its own risks anyway. Plus that's my primary Google account. Now I feel locked in ... it's less about updating my contacts, as I don't field a lot of personal or business email from that account, but more about all of the services where my account is associated with that email address. Not to mention that I've logged into some sites via Google. It would be a royal pain to switch now. Edit: Also, my domain is super awkward, sometimes doesn't fit in the field when I'm writing it down on a form, and tends to draw comments when I just want to get my business done and go on. ALSO the account name is different from the name I actually use day to day now -- it's James when everyone knows me as Jay.
  - tomxor 5y ago
    > and will now have to bear a recurring payment of $6 monthly Is this the cost for gmail to use a custom domain? or is it a very expensive domain name spread over 12 months?
    - mrtranscendence 5y ago
      Google is phasing out free "apps for your domain" accounts, so starting in a few months it will be necessary to pay a monthly fee per user.
      - tomxor 5y ago
        I see. At least you have the freedom to move email hosts though.
  - GoblinSlayer 5y ago
    Do you really need to switch? IME most services don't really use email for anything.
  - bmarquez 5y ago
    > It would be a royal pain to switch now. I know it's tough (migrated off G Suite Legacy myself) but it's probably best for the long run since G Suite accounts have less consumer features (in my case, lack of play store reviews and free Google Voice) and it's unlikely to change. There are many submissions on HN discussing alternatives. Fastmail, Protonmail, iCloud+ (I switched to this), Microsoft 365 are frequently mentioned. I think Zoho also had a free plan.
    - h4waii 5y ago
      Not being able to review things in the Play Store was a blocker for your free G Suite account? Also I still have a legacy G Suite with Google Voice attached to it which works fine -- and will add additional cost when/if I switch away.
- fartcannon 5y ago
  So without a domain whoever owns the domain you're using can deplatform you. The result is dropped emails at that address forever. With your own domain, the registrar can pull a namecheap and cancel your country. The result is temporarily dropped emails while you transfer to another domain registrar. You can set the registrar to autorenew.
  - willis936 5y ago
    I de-googled last year but still use google domains as my registrar. It's just so darn cheap and includes DDNS. I've looked at alternatives and I haven't been able to strongly identify one I trust more than google (as strange as that sounds). How do other people pick a registrar that they trust?
    - johnsea 5y ago
      gandi.net There are DDNS scripts on github to update the DNS record. Picked gandi a very long time ago and have no complaints.
garblegarble 5y ago
Just a reminder to everybody that Fastmail is an Australian company, and is therefore subject to Australia's TOLA / Assistance And Access. I avoid them like the plague for this reason. Having your e-mail provider compelled to work against your interests is no joke and you may not want to be in that situation.
- dewey 5y ago
  Maybe it's just me but I don't have "Australia going to force my email provider to hand over my data" in my threat model. It's probably worth thinking about that too before hastily switching email providers. Fastmail is a solid provider, with great support and I never had a real issue with them. I give them money, they provide me a good and stable email service.
  - whatshisface 5y ago
    2028 headline: "Australian intelligence services decline to comment on massive data breach."
  - krageon 5y ago
    You should have "my mail data should not be shared with third parties" as a general rule for mail providers. If that's not you, cool - but I'd wager most folks don't want their mail read :)
    - dewey 5y ago
      If you don't want your mail shared with third parties you just have to encrypt your email and then it doesn't matter who your provider is. There's a difference between "don't want their mail read" and "someone will be able to read my emails if there's a court order and they are interested in the content of my specific inbox".
  - akshaybhalotia 5y ago
    And then some version of Russia-Ukraine happens with Australia where you are locked out of your email accounts and all bets are off
browningstreet 5y ago
Step 1: just hook up a desktop mail client to your Gmail (Outlook, etc) and download all your emails locally. That way you have a backup. And copies if your email account gets blocked. It’s not a permanent or complete solution, but for all the people contemplating this issue, but not yet committed to switching… start with copying down your emails.
Fogest 5y ago
I personally am fine sticking with Gmail as I really enjoy the interface/features. One of the things I really like is the scripting I can do with Google Sheets, Gmail, and my Google Calendar. I have some pretty nice automations setup that do things like automatically adding details to my calendar based on emails. Parsing emails to put data into a spreadsheet, automatically adding details to calendar entries for certain things, etc... What I do to avoid too big of a headache with a lockout is using my own domain name. I essentially just forward my emails to my Gmail account. And then I set it up so I can reply with my own domains address in emails. So if I want to switch to a different provider it's just a matter of switching where I forward to or switching mx records. I also use Google takeout to take frequent full backups of all my data.
Tmpod 5y ago
I'll add a thumbs up for Migadu! Great service, great principles, I'm a happy customer. It's also pretty cheap (specially if you're a student). https://migadu.com https://migadu.com

bjt2n3904 5y ago

If you have a domain, that's just another liability for email security. Look at what NameCheap did. Imagine losing your domain for some reason -- even forgetting to renew. All your contacts need a new address now, and until then it's dropped emails. A custom domain is mostly a vanity measure. It does allow you to migrate to a new email service if your provider cancels your subscription, I suppose... But I'd rather only have one thing to worry about.

sgc 5y ago
The entire point of your own domain is to provide continuity. Of course it's one more thing to worry about, but it also one more layer of protection (an important one).
merlinscholz 5y ago
Password managers are just another liability. One more thing you could lose the password to. What if the service shuts down entirely?
mrtranscendence 5y ago
This has happened to me, briefly. I once forgot to renew and lost access to email. Luckily I was able to fix the issue quickly. I do kind of wish I had never gone down the route of using my own domain for email. I use gmail with it, and will now have to bear a recurring payment of $6 monthly (IIRC). I could move hosts but none of them are free to my knowledge, and a free service comes with its own risks anyway. Plus that's my primary Google account. Now I feel locked in ... it's less about updating my contacts, as I don't field a lot of personal or business email from that account, but more about all of the services where my account is associated with that email address. Not to mention that I've logged into some sites via Google. It would be a royal pain to switch now. Edit: Also, my domain is super awkward, sometimes doesn't fit in the field when I'm writing it down on a form, and tends to draw comments when I just want to get my business done and go on. ALSO the account name is different from the name I actually use day to day now -- it's James when everyone knows me as Jay.
- tomxor 5y ago
  > and will now have to bear a recurring payment of $6 monthly Is this the cost for gmail to use a custom domain? or is it a very expensive domain name spread over 12 months?
  - mrtranscendence 5y ago
    Google is phasing out free "apps for your domain" accounts, so starting in a few months it will be necessary to pay a monthly fee per user.
    - tomxor 5y ago
      I see. At least you have the freedom to move email hosts though.
- GoblinSlayer 5y ago
  Do you really need to switch? IME most services don't really use email for anything.
- bmarquez 5y ago
  > It would be a royal pain to switch now. I know it's tough (migrated off G Suite Legacy myself) but it's probably best for the long run since G Suite accounts have less consumer features (in my case, lack of play store reviews and free Google Voice) and it's unlikely to change. There are many submissions on HN discussing alternatives. Fastmail, Protonmail, iCloud+ (I switched to this), Microsoft 365 are frequently mentioned. I think Zoho also had a free plan.
  - h4waii 5y ago
    Not being able to review things in the Play Store was a blocker for your free G Suite account? Also I still have a legacy G Suite with Google Voice attached to it which works fine -- and will add additional cost when/if I switch away.
fartcannon 5y ago
So without a domain whoever owns the domain you're using can deplatform you. The result is dropped emails at that address forever. With your own domain, the registrar can pull a namecheap and cancel your country. The result is temporarily dropped emails while you transfer to another domain registrar. You can set the registrar to autorenew.
- willis936 5y ago
  I de-googled last year but still use google domains as my registrar. It's just so darn cheap and includes DDNS. I've looked at alternatives and I haven't been able to strongly identify one I trust more than google (as strange as that sounds). How do other people pick a registrar that they trust?
  - johnsea 5y ago
    gandi.net There are DDNS scripts on github to update the DNS record. Picked gandi a very long time ago and have no complaints.

garblegarble 5y ago

Just a reminder to everybody that Fastmail is an Australian company, and is therefore subject to Australia's TOLA / Assistance And Access. I avoid them like the plague for this reason. Having your e-mail provider compelled to work against your interests is no joke and you may not want to be in that situation.

dewey 5y ago
Maybe it's just me but I don't have "Australia going to force my email provider to hand over my data" in my threat model. It's probably worth thinking about that too before hastily switching email providers. Fastmail is a solid provider, with great support and I never had a real issue with them. I give them money, they provide me a good and stable email service.
- whatshisface 5y ago
  2028 headline: "Australian intelligence services decline to comment on massive data breach."
- krageon 5y ago
  You should have "my mail data should not be shared with third parties" as a general rule for mail providers. If that's not you, cool - but I'd wager most folks don't want their mail read :)
  - dewey 5y ago
    If you don't want your mail shared with third parties you just have to encrypt your email and then it doesn't matter who your provider is. There's a difference between "don't want their mail read" and "someone will be able to read my emails if there's a court order and they are interested in the content of my specific inbox".
- akshaybhalotia 5y ago
  And then some version of Russia-Ukraine happens with Australia where you are locked out of your email accounts and all bets are off

browningstreet 5y ago

Step 1: just hook up a desktop mail client to your Gmail (Outlook, etc) and download all your emails locally. That way you have a backup. And copies if your email account gets blocked. It’s not a permanent or complete solution, but for all the people contemplating this issue, but not yet committed to switching… start with copying down your emails.

Fogest 5y ago

I personally am fine sticking with Gmail as I really enjoy the interface/features. One of the things I really like is the scripting I can do with Google Sheets, Gmail, and my Google Calendar. I have some pretty nice automations setup that do things like automatically adding details to my calendar based on emails. Parsing emails to put data into a spreadsheet, automatically adding details to calendar entries for certain things, etc... What I do to avoid too big of a headache with a lockout is using my own domain name. I essentially just forward my emails to my Gmail account. And then I set it up so I can reply with my own domains address in emails. So if I want to switch to a different provider it's just a matter of switching where I forward to or switching mx records. I also use Google takeout to take frequent full backups of all my data.

Tmpod 5y ago

I'll add a thumbs up for Migadu! Great service, great principles, I'm a happy customer. It's also pretty cheap (specially if you're a student). https://migadu.com https://migadu.com